Forgive Me
by lumosinthedark
Summary: When Hermione and Draco's secret romance is revealed, will Hermione be able to salvage both her relationship and the friendships that threaten to be destroyed? A Dramione short story about love, friendship and what it takes to maintain balance between the two.
1. Forgive Me Part 1

**Wowza, this is the first story I've posted in nearly a year! I'm so sorry to have been away for so long, my lovely readers. I feel as though I should offer some sort of explanation, but I don't really have a good one. School was insane towards the end of the year and I've just been so caught up in the world that's unfolding around me that I haven't really had a chance to breathe. I promise that I'll start posting more of my stories from now on.(Oh! and I've changed my pen name from DreamerLoverWriter to lumosinthedark. I just liked the sound of my new pen name better than the old.)  
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**So now, I present to you my latest project: a Dramione fic that I hope you'll all love. I'm planning on it being about 2 or 3 chapters long, but I might extend it if y'all like it and want me to :)  
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**Without further ado, here is "Forgive Me"  
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**Forgive Me  
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Draco and Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room, shifting uneasily in their seats. The roaring fire next to them should have been keeping them warm, but a chill rose up Hermione's back as the frigid gazes of her friends confronted her.

"You're _what_?" asked Ron, disbelief and malice barely concealed in his voice. Hermione and Draco exchanged a glance, soft brown eyes meeting intense deep grey. This was a mistake.

"We're," Hermione started tentatively, glancing at Ron, Harry and Ginny who were perched in the chairs facing them with incredulous expressions on their faces, "together. Draco and I."

Ginny gaped at her, clearly angered that Hermione hadn't confided in her. Her! She was her best friend after all.

"And, erm" Harry cleared his throat, visibly shocked that Hermione and Draco could have gotten along for more than a minute, much less _date_, "How long has this," he gestured to the couple's interlaced hands, "been going on."

It was Draco who answered this time, "About five months. Before Christmas holiday at least." He glanced towards Hermione, who gave a small, confirming nod.

The clock tower chimed, one…two… three… all the way up to 12. Midnight. Normally, they would all be curled up in their dormitories, Draco in the dungeons and Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny in their respective dormitories up in the tower. Instead, they sat here, the three Gryffindors glaring towards the Slytherin sitting next to their best friend. _Holding hands_ with their best friend.

It wasn't like Hermione and Draco _planned_ on them finding out. It sort of just…. happened. One minute, they were kissing each other goodbye behind the last shelf in the library, Draco's lips pressing zealously against hers in a passionate kiss, and the next, Ginny, Harry and Ron were bursting their secluded little bubble.

"Bloody hell!" Ron had yelled, before he saw Hermione pinned beneath Draco's arms, "Get a room, Malfoy!"

Draco had pulled away, slight smirk on his face. He wore a look that could only be described as half annoyance, half amusement. Hermione, on the other hand, had felt her face grow immensely hot as she shrunk back against the musky books behind her, wishing to be anywhere but where she was right then. She had felt Harry's green eyes find her as Draco had tucked her behind him, obviously preparing for a fight.

"Shove off, Weasel," Draco had scoffed, drawing his long, dark wand from beneath his dark Slytherin robes. He still hadn't changed after the Quidditch game against Hufflepuff today. After all, they'd been a little… preoccupied.

Ginny's voice had risen out of the thick tension, causing the two Gryffindor boys next to her to gawk at her in incredulity. "Hermione?" she had questioned, voice thick with disbelief and, though Hermione thought she must be imagining it, horror.

"Hi," Hermione had squeaked, losing all of her so-called Gryffindor courage as her face went pale and she stepped out from behind Draco. She had given them a small wave and distanced herself from the attractive blonde haired boy next to her.

"What's going on here?" Harry asked. Hermione could tell he was trying to keep his voice level, as he always did in these kinds of situations. Not that this had happened before. But, still.

She giggled nervously, glancing quickly up at her boyfriend who was staring darkly towards her friends. "Well," she managed, "it's a funny story actually…"

The nearly empty library fell silent with thick, awkward tension. Even the books on which Hermione had always relied so heavily seemed to be waiting for her to say something else. Her friends stared in utter shock at her. It was Draco's voice that finally cut through the silence.

"Well, this little visit has been rather lovely. We should do it more often." Sarcasm was heavily laced in his tone before he looked down at the girl at his shoulder. A softer, much more tender voice spoke to her, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Hermione bit her lip, glancing between her speechless friends and the boy she thought she might just love. It took her a moment under the intensely disapproving gazes of Harry, Ginny and Ron, but finally she had allowed a small, almost undetectable nod. Draco gave her a small grin before stepping to leave the library.

"Not so fast," Ron had called out, seeming to have regained his voice, causing Draco to stop in his tracks and turn towards him, "You two have some explaining to do."

"So let me get this straight," Ron said as they sat by the roaring fire in the crimson and gold swathed common room, "You two have been dating," he spat out the word like it was something dirty, "for _five_ months and didn't bother to tell anyone?"

"And with _him_, of all people," Harry hissed toward Draco, then turned to Hermione, "Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. You can't possibly be serious."

Hermione looked up at the blonde boy next to her, still much taller than she was even when sitting. He had been oddly quiet throughout this entire thing.

"You can't keep seeing each other," Ron insisted. And all hell broke loose.

"You bloody prat, Ronald!" Ginny cried to Hermione's astonishment. She hadn't thought that the youngest Weasley would be on her side.

Draco rose from his seat, and Hermione followed, though he let go of her hand. He walked angrily towards Ron and Harry, wand held high.

"Try and make us, Weasley," the blonde scoffed.

"Draco!" Hermione cried, grabbing his forearm to pull him back. He shrugged her off, though shot her an apologetic glance. Ron had drawn his wand already and it was pointing back towards Malfoy.

"Enough!" Hermione yelled in a fury. The yells of Ron and Draco ceased. For a moment, she wondered why their fighting had not woken up the whole dormitory, then realized that Harry must have cast the Muffliato charm across the room. She shook the thought away quickly. She had more important things to deal with than worrying about a stupid charm holding.

"I knew this would happen," Hermione muttered, as she ran her hand through her curly hair.

"Of course this was going to happen!" Harry cried, losing his temper at last, "You didn't really think we'd never find out? You didn't think that we'd be accepting of him? He's Malfoy, for God's sake. Do you even remember what he did to us? How he treated us? How he treated _you_?"

"He's changed," Hermione snapped.

"I don't care," Ron said, "He's a bloody Death Eater."

"Actually," Draco chimed in, rolling up his sleeves and revealing perfectly unmarred pale arms, "That was a rumor."

Harry, ignoring the last statement, repeated, "You can't keep seeing each other."

Hermione collapsed, exasperated into the plush red chair behind her.

"And if I don't," she asked Harry defiantly, anger glinting in her eyes. He wasn't her father after all. Nor was he a teacher or an adult. He had no authority over her. He was her friend. He wouldn't do this to her. He couldn't do this to her. He was the kind, and brave and loyal, Harry Potter. Yet, somehow Hermione knew what would come next before it was even said.

Ron answered for him, despite Ginny's outrage, "If you don't, then I don't think we can be friends."

And just like that, Hermione's world fell apart.

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**So, what do y'all think? Please review to let me know how I can develop better as a writer and your reactions to this particular story. Bad or good, any and all reviews help me know that my writing is being seen and gives me just a little validation for this crazy thing we all do by putting ourselves and our writing out here on this website. **

**Look for the next chapter sometime in the next week :) **

**-lumosinthedark  
**


	2. Forgive Me Part 2

**Forgive Me (Part 2)**

When Hermione woke up the next morning, she was surprised to see, not the six other girls she shared a room with, nor the plush crimson and gold common room (for she had fallen asleep there on more than one occasion), but the darkly lit silver and green dungeons of the Slytherin common room.

The was a familiar pale arm draped across her waist, the body connected to the arm pressed up against her back in the plush black couch. There was a cool chill in the dungeons, and Hermione noticed the blanket that must have once been draped over them had fallen to the floor in the night.

It took her a few moments to remember the events of the previous night clearly, not knowing if it was real or all just a dream. After rifling through the memories, she deemed the happenings to be real and felt as though she had been run over by a truck.

Did they really find out? Did they really want her to choose? She sighed, looking around the unfamiliar common room. It must have been early. There was no one yet up and the room was still fairly dark, only a little light filtering through the small windows. The fire was still blazing in the hearth not too far away, it must have been conjured to stay burning the whole day and night considering how cold the dungeons got, though she felt little warmth from it. The room was far too large for the heat distribution and the warmth was lost to the cool stone that surrounded them.

Hermione's back ached from sleeping on the couch, but didn't want to wake Draco who was sleeping so peacefully next to her. How had she gotten here anyway? She tried her best to remember, but for some reason, she couldn't. It seemed as though there was a door blocking her from accessing the memory. Then it hit her.

She had been Obliviated. She'd heard rumors about it happening before when people from other houses wanted to enter the Slytherin common room, but the Slytherins didn't want them knowing the password or where exactly it was located.

Hermione realized that Draco must have done this to her.

_The stupid prat_, she thought, bitterly, _he's too paranoid. _

It was only mere moments later that Draco began to stir from next to her. Gently lifting herself up, she turned to face Draco.

He smiled at her, but she scowled back, "You Obliviated me."

Malfoy blinked for a moment, trying to take in what she was accusing him of while he stretched his arms above his head, "It's too early for this, Granger."

"You Obliviated me," Hermione repeated, rather angry at this fact. They had talked about Obliviation before and neither agreed with it. What if the memory you took was what would change them forever and make them the person they were supposed to be. If you take that, then what happens? It had sparked a rather long discussion a few months back in the library.

"Hermione," Draco tried to interrupt as she continued on a rant having to do with how wrong Obliviation was, "Granger!" he said forcefully, using her surname to indicate his annoyance and it immediately caused her to shut her mouth.

"_I_ didn't Obliviate you. The room did."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked, sourly.

Draco explained. "There's a charm on the room. If anyone outside of Slytherin house, aside from teachers of course, enter the common room, their memory of getting there and the password are erased," he told her, then adding, "Good thing too. Because you said some things to Blaise that I don't think he was too happy about."

Hermione sighed and shook her head.

"I think he's the least of my worries right now," she reminded him, unhappily.

Draco pulled her into his arms and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Everything's going to turn out okay. You're Hermione Granger. If you can't get Potty and the Weasel to change their minds, then no one can."

Hermione glared at him, "Don't call them that."

"They deserve it," Draco pointed out.

"You're such a prat."

"It's a gift," he laughed, drawing her closer to him, "Now, let's get you back to the Gryffindor common room. I'm sure the Weaselette is frantic wondering where you are.

"I told you to stop calling them that." Hermione reminded him as the made their way out of the common room. Ginny was one of her best friends too, after all.

"And I told they deserve it." Malfoy repeated to her.

"Do you have to be so bloody arrogant all the time? Honestly, I wonder what I even see in you." She threw her hands into the air, exasperated.

"Aside from my charm and good looks, you mean?" he smirked at her. She elbowed him in the ribs, trying to smother the grin that played at the corners off her lips. Had the events of last night not occurred, this would have been any usual Saturday morning (aside from awakening in the Slytherin common room that is), banter and all.

"What am I supposed to tell them?" Hermione sighed heavily, holding her head in her hands. She had stopped walking and shrunk down against one of the walls in defeat. Draco, noticing her depleted state, joined her against the wall, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, comfortingly.

"I mean, they're my best friends! How am I supposed to choose between the people I love?" She said shakily, eyes on the verge tears.

"If they're really your best friends," Draco said slowly, not wanting to offed her, "They'll want what's best for you."

Hermione muttered under her breath, hoping that he didn't hear her, "And what if I don't know what that is?"

"So I see you've decided," Ron said happily as Hermione climbed through the portrait hole, alone, "Excellent."

She scowled at him as Harry, noticing Hermione had joined them, left his conversation with Seamus and Dean to meet the two. Glancing around the crimson and gold room, she noticed that Ginny was nowhere to be seen.

She was quiet for a moment before looking up at her two best friends. Ron, with his blazing red hair and lanky build, leaned up against one of the dark mahogany tables looking rather pleased with himself. Harry, his dark hair barely concealing the lightening blot scar on his forehead and round spectacles perched upon his nose, slightly askew, was seated on the arm of one of the plush crimson chairs. He wore an anxious expression, one that Hermione had grown to know quite well, though she knew it wasn't there because of her.

Hermione took a deep breath before beginning, "I'm not going to choose."

Ron's face quickly contorted from a pleased look to one of pure outrage. Hermione spoke quickly to quell the shouting match she could feel coming, "I'm not going to choose between the people I love. I love you both with all my heart. You're like my brothers. But the thing is, I love Draco, too. He makes me so" She struggled to find a word for it, but settled for a rather cliché: "happy."

Harry and Ron both opened their mouths to speak, but she cut them off again, "And if you love me, you won't make me got through losing him. Or you. You all mean too much to me."

The boys exchanged a glance and Harry ran a hand through his thick, dark hair, clearly not happy with the decision he was about to make.

"Fine," Harry said unenthusiastically as Hermione rushed forward and pulled the two boys into a fierce hug. Tears brimmed in her eyes, threatening to spill over, though this time for a very elated reason.

"But if we ever," Ron said threateningly, pulling away from Hermione's death grip, "catch you two snogging like that again in public. We will hex him on the spot. Got it?"

Hermione giggled, then heard a conversant, light voice from behind her, "You're such a bloody hypocrite Ronald Weasley."

Ginny Weasley stood behind her dressed in her pajamas and fuzzy pink slippers, grinning at the scene.

"What about you and Lavender?" the fiery redhead continued, "You two couldn't stop snogging for more than two seconds. Honestly, we all wondered why you didn't pass out from lack of oxygen."

Ron gawked at her, his ears turning a bright shade of scarlet, while Harry and Hermione roared with laughter.

"That- That has nothing to do with this," Ron stammered, his face going crimson and eyes bulging out in a cartoonish way that made the other three laugh even harder.

And as Hermione gazed at her best friends surrounding her in the soft morning light, she knew that everything was finally going to be okay.

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**So what do you think? I had fun writing this and I hope you all had fun reading it :) Let me know your reactions, good or bad, in a review so I know what I can do better in my future writing. And thank you for taking time out of your day to read my fic. It means a lot to me :)****  
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**~lumosinthedark  
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